Homer joining broking group from investment bank KBW

Toby Esser, Cooper Gay

Oliver Homer, son of Towergate director and Biba chairman Andy Homer, is to join Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC) as head of mergers and acquisitions.

This is a newly created role at the broking group, which is hungry for acquisitions following the fresh cash injection in received from private equity house Lightyear Capital in 2012.

Homer will join CGSC on 17 June from investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. He is vice-president of a specialist advisory team focused on insurance and financial services M&A and capital raising.

Confirming the appointment, Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford chief executive Toby Esser (pictured) told Insurance Times: “We are doing a lot of M&A deals right now and the pressure on the head office team is a little extreme, so bringing someone in-house who can run the whole M&A function is key for us.”

He added: “It is exciting for us because he’s a really high quality guy. It further demonstrates the deals we are going to be doing over the next couple of years.”